


I knew that look dear

by raedear



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 11:44:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20209195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raedear/pseuds/raedear
Summary: Mari knows herself best of anyone, and Hiroko delights in watching her grow.The same can’t be said for Yuuri.





	I knew that look dear

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written in more than ten years and it's fully the fault of kazul9's discord server.

Hiroko watches her children carefully. She does most things carefully, like balancing the onsen’s books, or keeping the peace when the guests get rowdy, but these things are easy to do. She devotes her truest attention to the ones that need her most. 

Mari doesn’t often need her, she never has really. Mari is quiet, and focussed, and strong - entirely her own person. What she needs most often from her mother is a reminder that it is okay for her to want things for herself. To want more. To this end, Hiroko watches carefully for opportunities to spoil her a little - tickets to an idol show in Osaka, some extra pocket money tucked in her bag when they can spare it - so she can have the things she wants but won’t ask for. Hiroko watches and offers Mari the love and support she needs to grow out her hair, to pierce her ears, to make herself herself, whatever that means to Mari. Mari knows herself best of anyone, and Hiroko delights in watching her grow. 

The same can’t be said for Yuuri. 

Yuuri, who they named so auspiciously, but may have cursed in the same breath. Yuuri needs the courage of his name because it seems that he’s at war with himself. While he shares Mari’s strength, he doesn’t share her sense of self. He wants so much - wants to dance beautifully, wants to conquer the ice, wants to reach his hero there, but at the same time seems terrified to reach for the things he wants so badly. 

Hiroko watches Yuuri dance until his feet bleed, only to strap his skates on and jump and spin and fall until he’s more bruise than boy. And then she watches him do it again, day after day. He pushes himself in his classes, in his chores, in the coaching sessions Hiroko had to rebudget the onsen to pay for. He pushes, and none of it seems to be good enough for him. He pushes, and Hiroko watches for when he inevitably pushes too far. 

She can see it coming like a cresting wave.

He comes home, feet dragging, head low, shoulders high and tight. More than usual he struggles to meet her eyes, to smile politely at the guests who call out to him. He gives Vicchan only the briefest of pets before he’s settling in at the table, homework spread out before him. His hands shake a little, his face is pale. She watches him closer still as he bites his lip to shreds.

He gives one shuddering sigh, and that’s her cue. 

‘Come with me, Yuuri,’ she says, gently taking his hand. 

‘I can’t - I need to finish this,’ his eyes are shining and red-rimmed behind his glasses. 

‘It can wait.’ her voice is soft as she leads him by the hand through the ryokan, away from the family space, past the dining room, into the warmth of the kitchen.

Toshiya is laughing through the service window with some customers. He glances at them as they pass, his eyes softening with understanding at Yuuri’s down-turned little face, before he returns to his conversation, continuing to watch them from the corner of his eye. 

Hiroko nudges Yuuri towards a stool near the counter, and when he sits she hands him an onion. 

‘Chop this for me, Yuuri-kun,’ she smiles as she brushes his hair from his face, ‘I’ll get the sauce started, we’ll have katsudon for dinner.’ 

She turns away to start cooking. This is the only meal she makes. The kitchen is Toshiya’s space, as much as the accounts and running the onsen are her’s, but this is important. They both know how loud Yuuri’s head can get, how vicious his worries and what ifs can become. There’s something immediately soothing about cooking katsudon together though, that always seems to bring Yuuri some measure of peace. Some combination of the warmth of the kitchen, the familiar cooking smells, and the quiet presence of Hiroko and Toshiya’s love for him that lets his breath come a little smoother, a little deeper. She made Toshiya show her how to cook katsudon the first time Yuuri lost his breath in panic, and she’s cooked it for Yuuri, and with him, ever since. 

As she prepares the tonkatsu, and as Toshiya plates sukiyaki for a guest, they can all pretend that Yuuri’s sniffles are from the growing pile of onion in front of him.

She presses a brief kiss to the crown of his head as she picks the chopping board up, sliding a bundle of spring onions in front of him instead. 

Yuuri chops while she stirs the onions into the sauce, watching them soften as Yuuri catches his breath, breathes deep and slow in the steam of their little corner of the room. 

Yuuri’s tears dry as she pours beaten egg through the broth and onion mix, and it’s her turn to be watched as she splits rice between three bowls and adds the extra broth. Yuuri’s dark eyes following the motions of her hands as she tops each one with tonkatsu, before pouring the egg and onion over it all. His eyes flicker down to his own hands when she turns fully to face him, placing the bowls in front of him so he can add a handful of spring onion to each. 

He gifts her with a hesitant smile, meeting her eyes for the first time in what feels like days. She smiles back, and nods her head towards the door, scooping up two of the bowls as she steps away. Together they carry the bowls out to the dining room, Toshiya following behind, good-naturedly telling the guests to behave while he eats. 

Yuuri’s face lifts a little higher as they eat. His shoulders lower, his smile comes a little quicker. Hiroko watches every little change as it happens. She breathes easier when Yuuri does too.


End file.
